Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC of The Fixer Upper. I enjoyed reading this book but all I kept thinking was that the main character, Aly, could have really benefitted from therapy. As I read what she would put up with from past relationships and the affect it had on her as an adult, it made me sad. Otherwise, the other characters were fun and liked the story. There was some good quirkiness to everyone and it kept it moving along.

3.5 stars. Workplace Rom-Com. Much of it was pretty predictable, but I did enjoy it. My favorite part was the friendships, and I also wanted to give a fist bump when our main character finally started to stand up for herself and speak out toward the end. I did enjoy the second chance romance with her high school best friend. There was a bit of the miscommunication trope, which isn't my favorite, but it felt a bit realistic in this book. I do wish there wasn't any curse words because they didn't feel like they fit with the characters and weren't necessary in the story at all.

I barely finished this, to the point that I practically categorize it as a DNF. I just wished the main characters had more chemistry. I finished the book and barely remembered what I read. Sadly it wasn't for me at all.

This was a cute and quick read! The kind of second chance, childhood friends-to-enemies-to-lovers (?) story-line was an interesting back-story and connection between the two MCs. I really appreciated the FMC's two main work friends - their personalities and quirks made the story enjoyable. I could definitely see this playing out as a movie. In a weird way, this didn't feel like a traditional rom-com with so much of the story being centered around other things happening in the characters lives and with the fact that the two MCs didn't even really end up "together" until the last 5% of the book.

Great story and love that it kept my attention until the end, I would love to read more by this author.

thank you for my advance copy in exchange for a fair review.

👩🏻‍🔧 𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙺 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆 👩🏻‍🔧

The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

"The race through your twenties and thirties isn't meant to be a competition. Success looks different for everyone, and we're not all looking for the same things”.

The Fixer upper is a heartwarming story about a second chance romance between two childhood friends. They meet under unusual circumstances again in their thirties, when Dylan’s girlfriend hires Alyssa to fix him up. During this time Dylan and Aly work together and learn what makes a healthy and successful relationship a true partnership.

This was such a fun Rom-Com! I loved Alyssa’s friend Tola and Eric. The way they are there for her regardless of the problem she has, the bond they have together and how they bring out the best parts of her. Alyssa was such a funny, smart, capable woman and she could be such a relatable character as well 😊

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Fixer Upper is the story of Aly, a long-suffering woman who can't say no and wants everything to be perfect. She's overworked, always scrabbling for the big promotion at her marketing agency that's been dangled in front of her for years. She bends over backward to appear professional and compliant at all times. Knowing how women are held to a different standard at work (or anywhere), she keeps all her interactions pleasant and proactive, fixing male colleagues' errors and boosting their careers through her own efforts. At the beginning of the book, her friends are also starting to notice how this extends to her personal life. She's been a bit of a serial dater, and, as it turns out, a fairy god-girlfriend. She's dated man-children lacking in ambition or basic life skills and left each better than she found them. In fact, a bit of light research reveals they have gone on to career and personal successes that Aly only aspires to. And there's a direct connection to advice or support she provided when they were in a relationship. Aly and her two friends hatch a plan for a side hustle helping women achieve the same for the men in their lives. A little nudge, a planted idea, or a cleverly framed suggestion, is all it takes to push them in a new direction. The trio meets their match with an influencer who wants her boyfriend to get on her level with social media and propose by the end of the month. Aly is convinced to take on the astronomical task only when the huge payout is enough to save her mother's home. The catch? Said boyfriend is the one who got away. Or rather, the one that Aly real life ghosted as a teenager when she drunkenly confessed her feelings to her best friend before vanishing in a puff of mortification. Now they have enmity to spare, but Aly has a job to do no matter the feelings involved.

The commentary about women's emotional labor is ~real~. Is it even worth it to date a man if you have to hold his hand and usher him into adulthood at the same time? What if you're the one holding others together through thick and thin? At work? At home? It's freaking exhausting. I do feel like we lose the way with that initial premise once it becomes about Aly's long-lost love. His case doesn't really call for what their business offers, so that was a letdown. Also, I've got oodles of empathy for Aly, but her choices left me with a heavy helping of dread that choked out the other emotions of the story. Her full-body unhappiness is present throughout the whole book, even when she is willfully ignoring it. And that's hard to read sometimes. Plus, the romance is second chance, and the book takes my least favorite approach by showing us all the rocky, broken detritus of their past friendship, and most of the good is an aspirational future existence. We are just meant to feel satisfied knowing it's on its way without getting to dip into those feelings ourselves. Not the romantic experience of my dreams.

I like the idea behind this book, and I admire Aly's commitment to a solo, monthly dinner and wine date with a book at a nice restaurant. I need to get on that level (ironically, she decides she needs to get off that level but whatever). However, this romance was not the joyous or funny experience I craved. It doesn't end up doing much with its feminist premise, and the romance goes past angsty directly to mopey territory. With few good vibes to balance it out, I was frustrated. This is a book with good moments that failed to meet its potential, in my view.

Let me start by saying that overall, I enjoyed the idea of this book. It was a quick, sweet romance read that helped me escape from reality for a day. I also didn't mind the whole aspect of "The Fixer Upper" business until it started becoming problematic. Now normally, miscommunication is one of my least favorite tropes and I find it hard for a book to come back from that, however, the main miscommunication took place when the main love interests where in high school. I think it is safe to say that most high schoolers suck (excuse my bluntness) at communicating with one another, so I gave this book a pass on that. What was hard to give a pass to was the lying and deceit from Aly. It rubbed me the wrong way (as it should) and while she did try to make up for it near the end, it still left a bad taste in my mouth. I also found the ending to be a bit too abrupt and would have liked to have seen a little more. With all that said, I am giving this book 3 stars.

Great concept but average delivery.

Aly is a fixer. All of her ex boyfriends have improved their lives one way or another. Ally decides to start a side business to help improve her clients partners lives somehow. One of her clients is a social influencer who just so happens to be dating Aly’s first love. Aly is told to help improve his business, his social media presence, and get him to propose without him knowing she was hired.

This is a childhood best friends to strangers to enemies to lovers. No steam.

It was cute but maybe that was it? Quick, cute read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam books for the ARC copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: The Fixer Upper
AUTHOR: Lauren Forsythe
FORMAT: eBook
RATING: DNF (did not finish)

MY THOUGHTS

I started this book and found that I had a lot of difficulty connecting to the story. I did not finish it, not for lack of quality of the book but more so that I felt it was a “right book wrong time” situation where I wasn’t in the right mindset for this one at this time! Hopefully will be picking it back up in the future!

This is an adorable and relatable second chance romance. How many of us can say that we’ve been in a relationship with a total mess of a guy only to see him live the life of his dreams after we’ve broken up? Too many of us, I’m sure. In Aly’s case, she was a serial “project-dater,” and once she helped these guys get their acts together, their relationships fizzled out. Enter: The Fixer Upper. When her coworker and friend gets wind up Aly’s dating history, she convinces her to help other women “fix-up” their boyfriends. But when a reality TV star/Instagram mogul hires Aly to convince her boyfriend to propose, Aly is shocked at who walks through the door. Funny and feminist, the Fixer-Upper shows readers what’s really important in relationships and in life.

A cute little story. I wasn’t blown away by anything out of the ordinary but fun’s of British rom coms would enjoy this one.

Such a delightfully fun and cute romantic comedy! I was pulled into the story right from the beginning and completely engrossed till the end. Aly is a fixer of all. Relationships, parenting problems, career problems, you have a pro lemon, she 's the one to call. But with all the fixing she does for others, when it comes to her own problems, she is at a loss. She gets together with her friends a d starts a company, The Fixer Upper, to help people with their problems. One of the clients she takes on wants her to help motivate her boyfriend to propose. It turns out that boyfriend is Aly's old best friend and first love, Dylan.
This was a lovely second chance romance with plenty of fun and laughs along the way. The characters were great and I enjoyed the banter between them. The book definitely left me with a smile on my face and a happy feeling afterwards. The story was delightfully cute and I really enjoyed it. If you're looking for a fun, quick and light read, that will put a smile on your face then you definitely will want to pick this one up.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

4 stars for this British rom-com. The Fixer Upper was a fun, easy read. I'd recommend this for those who enjoy reading a sweet romance.
Thank you to Lauren Forsythe, Putnam, and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF for me. The story was just a little to cheesy and I could not get past 50 pages. This will be for someone just not for me

The Fixer Upper is a second chance romance, which is one of my favorite romance tropes! In this story, we meet Aly who is "The Fixer" for everyone from her parents, friends, and even coworkers. After realizing that she has also been "The Fixer" for her past boyfriends, she and her two work besties decide they're going to start a secret business called The Fixer Upper where they help women stop doing unnecessary emotional labor and make the men do the work themselves! When a popular social media influencer begs for their business - the group think they've hit it big! There's only one problem - the man in need of fixing is Aly's childhood best friend and first love...talk about awkward!

The premise of this novel was so intriguing and I believe it speaks to experiences that almost every woman has had in some capacity. This was such an interesting examination on the ways women are expected to put more emotional labor - and sometimes even physical labor as well - into their relationships. The author made some excellent points about how this specifically can affect parent-child relationships, romantic relationships, childcare, and work-life balance. I really could relate to some of Aly's experiences and how overwhelming and frustrating it is being "The Fixer" for everyone, but yourself. I loved Aly's character arc through this novel; her growth felt authentic and it was lovely to see her make positive changes for herself and no one else!

However, besides Aly and Dylan I wish there had been more development of the side characters. While I could picture the side characters, I felt like I didn't always get a good understanding of who they were as individuals. This was especially true for Eric and Tola who I loved, but wanted to see more of their personalities instead of just simply how they fit into this dynamic with the secret business. Additionally, while I liked both Aly and Dylan I didn't feel there was any spark between them. Their dynamic felt very platonic; the romance plot line in general felt on the farthest back of back burners.

So while this was an enjoyable read, it wasn't quite the second chance romance I was hoping for. Overall, I was left just wanting something more from the story. However, I did really enjoy the author's writing style and would be interested in reading more from her in the future!

This was my first Lauren Forsythe book! It was pretty cute and funny. I loved it! I would love to read more books by this author.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review. This one was so cute and really read like a modern-day fairy tale. A five star read for me.

If it weren't for the characters ages, this could have been YA. I was not expecting to be so bothered with the miscommunication trope but I was! I thought the program was a bit toxic but at least they mentioned that towards the end. It did take me a very long time to finish it but it just The romance really took a backseat and that was disappointing.

A beautiful love story about mistakes and fixing things. A really fun cheeky read. Not too cheesy but ticks all the right boxes for a feel-good rom-com. Looking forward to more from this author